Marine Corps veteran Jared Luce of Coventry, Conn., is fitted last month with a new suit by Kathy Bartosiak, an assistant store manager at Brooks Brothers in West Hartford. Luce is participating in the University of Connecticut’s Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans With Disabilities.

HARTFORD, conn. — As a truck driver for the U.S. military in wartime Iraq, Ed Young racked up 7,000 miles, facing a constant threat of attack that left him struggling with depression and suicidal thoughts.

Four years later, he is driving long hauls again but now in the U.S. as one of a growing number of veterans turning entrepreneur. The Navy veteran who had seen his post-war life spiraling out of control says his Connecticut-based car-transportation business has helped to put him on the road to recovery.

Young received training to run his enterprise through a program for disabled veterans at the University of Connecticut, one of many efforts emerging nationwide to help returning service members start small businesses.

“The biggest thing I got out of it was, no matter what, don’t give up on your idea,” said Young, 26. “Basically, it’s like in the military. Just accomplish the mission. That is your job, to accomplish your mission, no matter what.”

More than 200,000 people are discharged from the U.S. military each year, and advocates say they often possess qualities that make good entrepreneurs: resourcefulness, a taste for risk-taking and a can-do attitude. Nonprofit groups, state governments and U.S. agencies are providing business training aimed at giving them new purpose and easing their transition to civilian life.

Already, veterans are well-represented in the entrepreneurial ranks. Nearly one in 10 small businesses are owned by veterans, and retired service members are at least 45 percent more likely than those without active-duty military experience to be self-employed, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.

As troops return from Iraq and Afghanistan, some see an opportunity not only to help them find work but for veteran entrepreneurs to provide a jolt to the U.S. economy.

“We think this is an opportunity where we’re going to have a lot of veterans who have the right skills to be entrepreneurs,” said Rhett Jeppson, associate administrator for veterans’ business development at the SBA. “We can help prepare them for the opportunities out there.”

Unlike GIs who played a famed role in expanding the U.S. economy after World War II, however, this generation is returning to the worst economic slump since the Great Depression.

Young, who graduated last year from the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities at UConn, had to apply to 10 banks before landing a $24,000 loan to buy a truck and start his business, Black Knight Services. After completing more than $75,000 in sales in the first six months of the year, he said, he is looking to buy more trucks, but for now he still operates out of his apartment in Milford when not on the road.

“It has its ups and downs, but I love it 100 percent,” he said. “Unfortunately, I really can’t stand people that much. At least I’m just by myself and with my thoughts.”

Michael Zacchea, executive director of the Connecticut boot camp, said businesses such as Young’s that start during difficult financial times are more likely to succeed in the long run. Regardless of the veterans’ career ambitions, Zacchea said, the program also aims to teach veterans to take charge of their civilian careers.

“It might be as simple as somebody starting a mom-and-pop shop,” he said. “It’s economic, but it’s also about social-identity reconstruction: ‘I used to be a warrior; now I’m an entrepreneur and I can feed myself.’ “